Concert review: Alpenglow Chamber concert at Lord of the Mountains in Dillon extraordinary

Musicians from the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival perform at Lord of the Mountains in Dillon on Tuesday. The Alpenglow Festival continues today with a sold-out soiree at a private home in Silverthorne and the closing concert Saturday at Lord of the Mountains.

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The Tuesday evening concert performance of the Alpenglow Chamber Music Festival was musically beyond compare. Artistic directors Rieko Aizawa (pianist) and Jesse Mills (violinist) invited some of the finest internationally acclaimed solo and chamber music players to join in a program of classic trios and quartets, along with a set of American songs sung by virtuoso soprano Ilana Davidson.

The Tuesday evening performance at Lord of the Mountains Church in Dillon included Grammy award-winning violist Masumi Per Rostad and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, a member of the acclaimed Horszowski Trio, along with artistic directors Aizawa and Mills. Each of these performers has given solo and ensemble performances in concert and at music festivals throughout the United States and Europe.

Included in the Tuesday evening performance was “Two Songs for Voice,” composed by Johannes Brahms, written for his dear friends, Amalie and Joseph Joachim, a couple who had recently split. Davidson gave full expression to the song of children slumbering in the wind. Equally impressive were Davidson’s performance within the set of American songs of Aaron Copland’s “Simple Gifts,” taken from his inspiring work “Appalachian Spring,” and her inspiring vocal sonority of the sounds of nature used for John Cage’s composition “The Flower,” written for voice and accompanied by Aizawa, providing the accents with sounds from a “closed piano.” She then completely won the hearts of the audience with her performance of Gershwin’s lyrical “By Strauss.”

Concluding with a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B-flat major, the expertise of these Alpenglow Chamber concert musicians was in full display. The interweaving melodies from the strings of the violin and cello, accompanied by Aizawa’s impeccable mastery of the keyboard in providing both chords of harmony, melody lines and ascending and descending arpeggios were truly remarkable. My intuition that I would never hear this composition better performed was supported by the spontaneous standing ovation by those in attendance.

On Saturday evening, a second Alpenglow Chamber ensemble will again perform at Lord of the Mountains Church. Included in the program will be French modern composer Darius Milhaud’s “Creation of the World” for piano and string quartet. New York-based violinist Aaron Boyd, who enjoys a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher with performances throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, will join this performance. Compositions by Joseph Haydn and contemporary Italian composer Luciano Berio will be included. The program will end with Czech composer Anton Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A major, in which the high quality of chamber concert performance by each of the quintet will be fully experienced.

Tickets are $20 for adults, half price for seniors and free for students and children. Your love of music will be fully experienced in attending this concert.